We See Championships

NBA All-Star Predictions: 4th Update

Now nine weeks into the regular season, and the NBA has announced that All-Star voting will open on Christmas Day with an exclusive partnership with Google. That means this will be our last update before voting begins.

So let’s get to it:

Hurrikahane:

Team Embiid:

Starter 1: Joel Embiid

Starter 2: Kevin Durant

Starter 3: Russell Westbrook (4th update swap)Damian Lillard

Starter 4: Kawhi Leonard

Starter 5: Kemba Walker

Bench 1: Ben Simmons

Bench 2: Steph Curry

Bench 3: Jrue Holiday

Bench 4: Karl-Anthony Towns

Bench 5: DeMar Derozan

Bench 6: Jimmy Butler

Bench 7: Kyle Lowry

Team LeBron:

Starter 1: LeBron James

Starter 2: Anthony Davis

Starter 3: Giannis Antetokounmpo

Starter 4: James Harden

Starter 5: Victor Oladipo

Bench 1: Damian Lillard (4th update swap)Russell Westbrook

Bench 2: Rudy Gobert

Bench 3: Andre Drummond

Bench 4: Blake Griffin

Bench 5: Paul George

Bench 6: Kyrie Irving

Bench 7: John Wall (4th update)Zach LaVine

Pup:

Team Giannis:

Starter 1: Giannis Antetokounmpo

Starter 2: Anthony Davis

Starter 3: Joel Embiid

Starter 4: James Harden

Starter 5: Victor Oladipo

Bench 1: Russell Westbrook (4th update swap)Stephen Curry

Bench 2: Kemba Walker

Bench 3: Paul George

Bench 4: Nikola Vucevic (4th update)Andre Drummond

Bench 5: Khris Middleton

Bench 6: DeMar DeRozan

Bench 7: Jimmy Butler

Team LeBron:

Starter 1: LeBron James

Starter 2: Kevin Durant

Starter 3: Ben Simmons

Starter 4: Kawhi Leonard

Starter 5: Steph Curry (4th update swap) Russell Westbrook

Bench 1: Damian Lillard

Bench 2: Nikola Jokic

Bench 3: Chris Paul

Bench 4: Blake Griffin

Bench 5: Tobias Harris

Bench 6: Kyrie Irving

Bench 7: Bradley Beal

Marcus:

Team Giannis:

Starter 1: Giannis Antetokounmpo

Starter 2: Joel Embiid (4th update swap)Steph Curry

Starter 3: Anthony Davis

Starter 4: Ben Simmons

Starter 5: James Harden

Bench 1: Klay Thompson

Bench 2: Nikola Jokic

Bench 3: Russell Westbrook

Bench 4: Andre Drummond

Bench 5: Kyrie Irving

Bench 6: LaMarcus Aldridge

Bench 7: Gordon Hayward

Team LeBron Curry:

Starter 1: LeBron James

Starter 2: Kevin Durant

Starter 3: Steph Curry (4th update swap) Joel Embiid

Starter 4: Kawhi Leonard

Starter 5: Kemba Walker (4th update swap) Blake Griffin

Bench 1: Jayson Tatum

Bench 2: Blake Griffin (4th update swap) Kemba Walker

Bench 3: Rudy Gobert

Bench 4: Damian Lillard

Bench 5: Ben Simmons

Bench 6: DeMar DeRozan

Bench 7: Nikola Vucevic

Takeaways:

Will Westbrook be a starter?

In the same round of updates, I added Russell to the Western Conference starter list and Pup took him out (and added Curry)

Both players are very deserving, with Westbrook now averaging a triple double on the season (would be his 3rd year in a row) and Curry has the Warriors at 6-2 since his return from injury

Are the Magic and Vucevic for real?

With Pup adding Vucevic to his All-Star list that now puts him on two of the three 76th Sense team member’s rosters. Orlando is currently holding the 8th seed in the East, thanks to the stellar play of Nikola so far this season. If they stay in the fold for a playoff spot and Vucevic keeps up these numbers, it would be hard to keep him out of All-Star weekend

Bye bye LaVine

I was trying to hold off as long as I could, but Chicago is a disaster and LaVine’s numbers have dipped a bit. Combine that with his injury and it looks like his chances of an All-Star weekend appearance are fading quickly (unless he comes back and does the dunk competition again)

Notable Snubs:

Hassan Whiteside

Hassan still leads this list as he’s averaging 13.5 points, 13 rebounds, and 3 blocks per game. If Miami can climb their way up the standings and pass teams like the Magic, I could see Whiteside getting the nod over Vucevic

Marc Gasol

Gasol’s numbers have dipped a bit, but he’s still averaging 16 points, 8.5 rebounds, 4 assists, 1.5 steals, and 1.5 blocks. It’s just hard to imagine him passing some of the stellar Western conference forwards

Clint Capela

The Rockets are making their way back into relevance in the West and Capela continues his strong campaign, averaging 17 points, 12 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 2 blocks per game. Like Gasol, he’s got some seriously heavy hitters in the West to pass, but if the Rockets can get to a top 4 seed in the Conference he’ll get his fair share of votes